Pac-10 Nears Deal on Divisional Format

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PALO ALTO, CA - OCTOBER 09: Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal in action during their game against the USC Trojans at Stanford Stadium on October 9, 2010 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Though the Pac-10 recently added two new teams, it seems as though a pair of old foes will determine the final look of the expanded conference.

Agreement on the placement of the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford appears to be the final obstacle before the conference splits into a two division, 12 team format for the 2011-2012 season, reports ESPN.

Pac-10 athletic directors were unable to reach a deal during meetings last week in San Francisco, but two possible scenarios exist and a compromise seems to be close at hand.

The Northwestern schools seem to favor a north-south split that would place Washington, Washington State, Oregon, and Oregon State alongside Cal and Stanford, which would allow those schools to maintain the ability to recruit in talent-rich California. The alternative is a "zipper" format that would break the teams up along east-west lines.

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However, the Bay Area schools, along with their So Cal brethren - UCLA and USC - would prefer to stick together and add Arizona and Arizona State to complete their half of the conference.

Conference administrators seem to favor the first plan, which would break up the four Golden State schools and place new members Colorado and Utah with USC, UCLA, Arizona and ASU.

Whatever the deal, Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said that league play would still consist of nine games and flexibility would be built in to address rivalry games.

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The presidents and chancellors of the schools in the conference are set to meet on October 21 in San Francisco and Scott hopes that an agreement can be reached and an announcement made shortly thereafter.